Myrtle Beach flights soar at full capacity; Most flights sold out for destination; officials say customers should buy their tickets early

DAILY MAIL BUSINESS EDITOR

Southern Skyways' scheduled charter air service linking Charleston and Myrtle Beach, S.C., has been operating sold out and is almost full through July 6, a spokesman said.

"I think we're establishing the fact there is an excellent market," said spokesman Cary Evans. "There is clearly a demand for a larger aircraft. The opportunity is there."

Southern Skyways began the direct flights to and from Myrtle Beach one month ago today. The company had originally planned to use a 148-passenger Boeing 737 but switched to a 30-passenger Fairchild Dornier after deciding to drop a Cincinnati-Charleston leg.

Evans said, "The most often heard comment about the service is, 'Gosh, I wish I'd called sooner.' People book close in to the departure date. By the time people decide a few days before they want to go to Myrtle Beach, the seats are quickly sold or have sold out.

"We have seats starting on July 9," he said. "They're selling fast. We've sold out some flights after that."

All of the $99 one-way seats have been sold through Aug. 6, Evans said. The regular one-way fare is $139.

Yeager Airport Director Rick Atkinson said, "I think the service has been a tremendous success. Our load factor is 99 percent. I think we've only had three unsold seats since it has operated. The only complaint we get is there aren't enough seats. People want to go and can't buy a seat."

Atkinson has experienced that problem firsthand. He wanted to go to Myrtle Beach on Friday with his children to visit family, and he was going to fly. But he waited too long and the flight was sold out.

He spoke Friday on his cell phone while driving near Lumberton, N.C.

"At least I get them back July 2 on a flight," he said.

Evans said that operationally, "everything has been running as smooth as clockwork. We have had no complaints at all about the service, the seats, the baggage. We don't leave any behind. Everyone is pleased with the aircraft and the service. It is a nice aircraft."

Regular flights depart Charleston at 10:30 a.m. on Mondays and Fridays, arriving at Myrtle Beach at 11:45 a.m. Flights leave Myrtle Beach at 6 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays, arriving in Charleston at 7:15 p.m.

"We're leaving the schedule as is," Evans said. "It seems to be working well. We get no complaints on the schedule."

Friday was the first time the service was not on schedule, Evans said. Instead of leaving Charleston at 10:30 a.m. the flight left at 1 p.m. The change was necessary because the Dornier aircraft required servicing, he said. Southern Skyways used a 120-seat 737-200 for the flight, although it only booked 30 seats.

Southern Skyways will continue the service through Aug. 6. After that date, the company will consider its options. "It'll be a question of whether fall works or whether we wait again until next spring," Evans said. "There's clearly an opportunity for a larger airplane and for more frequency - that is, more days of the week."

The company will survey its customers, asking them how often they travel to Myrtle Beach, whether they would use the service in the fall, and what days of the week they like to fly. "We'll glean information from the people who took advantage of the service so we'll have real input instead of an academic study," Evans said.

Asked if the service is making money, Evans replied, "We're investing money in the route. We would expect over the long term to be profitable."

Atkinson said Evans and his associates "are working hard to find a right-sized aircraft at a competitive cost structure so we can offer the (low) fares. The leisure market is fare-sensitive."

The Myrtle Beach service "has worked well for us," Atkinson said. "It has proved our market will respond to scheduled charter service.

"We're going to continue to work with Southern Skyways or other scheduled charter operators to identify markets from Charleston that will work," he said. "It's a lot easier to convince someone to take a risk when they can see it is not an unknown, but a proven market."

"This market becomes a slam-dunk for scheduled charters if table games pass," Atkinson said. "The reasoning is, typically in a scheduled charter market - for example, if you had service between Charleston and Orlando, Fla. - 85 percent of the people would be from Charleston. You would only get a 15 percent flow from Orlando. The Las Vegas markets are 85 to 90 percent."

In contrast, "Our Atlanta and New York City markets are a 50-50 split," he said. "You've got true bi-directional flow.

"If we can create another reason for people to visit West Virginia for a leisure product to complement our existing tourism destinations, such as whitewater and skiing, then you have an opportunity to get flow from a traditional leisure market to West Virginia. That makes those scheduled charters not rely just on outbound traffic. You're getting that inbound traffic also, and people will pay to do it."

Atkinson said he thinks Florida and New York City are candidates for scheduled charter service.

He said he's heard that the largest ski club in the eastern United States is in Orlando and the second largest is in Tampa.

Yeager does not currently have direct air service to or from any of the airports that serve New York.

"There are two challenges with New York right now," Atkinson said. "One is the capacity constraint at the New York airports. The second issue is that all five airlines that provide connecting service (to and from Yeager) have good connections, the total trip time is not that long, and they're at very competitive fares. I'm not saying it won't work. It's an opportunity we need to explore, but there are challenges to it.

"Hopefully we'll have something to announce in the early fall for additional service in the winter."

Contact writer George Hohmann at [email protected] or 348-4836.

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